College. We've heard the word for as long as we can remember. Some of us have been groomed for higher education from a young age. We're told it'll be the best four years of our lives, we'll find our best friends and future spouses, and we'll realize our passion.
If only it were that easy.
Everyone's quest for college is different. For me, I only applied to two schools. ISU quickly became my top choice, and I was accepted into my program of choice by January of my senior year of high school.
I wish I had been a bit more selective in my research.
It's unrealistic to ask a 17-18-year-old what they want to do for the rest of their life and where they'd like to live for the next four years. It's even unrealistic to ask a 20-something those same questions.
I thought I knew the answer. I had the perfect plan, and I thought that there would be no possible way that my plan could be flawed.
It was. I made the wrong choice in colleges. Yet, I'm still graduating from that same school.
Admitting to myself that ISU was not and will never be "the" school for me was tough. I felt like I was missing out on some magically fun four years that everyone else was having. That I was wasting money and time. That I would be better off somewhere else.
Despite all of those intrusive thoughts, I am so proud of myself for sticking with a situation and making the best of it. There were multiple times that I was going to transfer out. I even applied to a couple different schools during my time at ISU. But, I never followed through with leaving. For me, completing something I started is huge. Even though I picked a corn town far away from anything that I love, I still stuck with it.
I made the best of it. I spent my time being bitter and wishing I was at home, but I'm back on track to blooming where I chose to plant myself. An important thing to remember that I wish someone had told 17-year-old me is that there is no perfect school. It just doesn't exist. You will always have some sort of issues, whether it be adjusting to being away from home or the awful food at the dining center. Nothing is always peaches and cream.
So, knowing what I know about myself – that I love big cities, that I'm very attached to home, that I don't like typical "state school" things – why did I choose ISU? Aka, the opposite of everything I was looking for?
I honestly fell in love with the campus. They really get you by giving tours in the fall, when all the leaves on the quad are changing and everything looks so aesthetic and ~college~. My original program of choice felt like a great fit. I liked the faculty. I was semi-familiar with the area, and it was an okay distance from home.
I wanted to try something a bit out of my comfort zone by coming to ISU. I know now that I would have avoided some of the pain and discomfort had I chosen a school in Chicago.
But, that's okay. ISU has become like a kid brother to me, in some ways – annoying, but you still love them. I'm proud of my school, even though it's not the best for me.
